"Edward, I need you to do something for me", Esme said later that day. Her adopted son looked up, reading her mind so that she wouldn't have to utter the words herself. He twitched slightly.

"Esme, I can not do that", he said and shook his head, letting his bronze hair fly around him. His wife, Bella, looked up.

"What?" she asked. Esme looked uncomfortable.

"I need Edward to find out what is wrong with out neighbour", she said after a while. Bella wrinkled her forehead.

"Why?"

"She's suffering", Esme answered. "Whatever she's been through, it's something that still torments her."

"Maybe we should invite her?" Alice suggested, dancing down the stairs with Jasper close behind her. Jasper looked pained by the thought; he didn't like having people around who were tormented by something, as he was affected by that as well.

"I'm sure we'll find a way to help her", Alice continued. Edward growled.

"Alice has had a vision, she knows she'll win", he muttered. Bella grinned; she'd known her best friend would come up with something.

"She had the look on her face as if she'd lost someone close", Esme continued. Carlisle, her husband, chuckled softly as he appeared at her side.

"My helpless romantic wife", he said softly and kissed her cheek. Then he grew solemn again.

"But I believe that she has lost someone, even though that person might not have been someone she knew", he continued and pulled up a newspaper.

Whole block burned down said the big, black letters.

"According to this article", Carlisle begun and sat down in his chair, crossing his legs as usual, "a block of twenty-one houses burned down in one night. The female police-officer Forrest was found close to the ruins, she'd tried to save people while alarming the fire department. She was the only one who survived the fires."

"Oh God", Bella whispered. "Oh God."

Carlisle pulled up a second paper from his bag. This one was written days later than the previous one.

"Here's another article", he said. "It tells about officer Forrest's resignation from the Chicago Police Department. According to the spokesman, she's blaming herself for the deaths of the people in the block and she's decided to retire, even though she's only twenty-three years old."

"Oh God", Bella continued to whisper. Carlisle nodded. It was visible that he was sorry for the officer while she was not there.

"She's going to need us, even though she can not find out about what we are", he said. The rest of his family nodded.

"I'll go over and invite her to dine with us", Alice said, dancing towards the door.

"Dine with us?" Bella said doubtfully. Alice grinned.

"At least meet us all", she said, before she whirled out through the door. Jasper seemed torn between the need to follow his wife and stay away from the depressed creature further down the road. After a while, he sank down in the couch next to Bella.

"This is going to be tough", he muttered. In a regular family, no one would've been able to hear that silent whisper, but in this family of vegetarian vampires, that was a piece of cake.

It was the second time that someone knocked on her door this evening. Was it Esme again? Sighing, Nadia rose from her chair in the kitchen and walked out to the door.

The person outside the door was both shorter and younger, but just as beautiful as Esme, in her own way. Nadia felt like a giant when she opened the door to the pixie-like girl with her spiky, black hair.

"Hi there", she said in a singing voice. Nadia nodded.

"We were just wondering if you would like to dine with us", she said. Nadia shook her head.

"I have already eaten", she answered.

"Well, that's ok, we ate on the way here, so we're not too hungry either", the girl continued. "We just want to get to know you a bit better, as we're going to be neighbours."

She smiled again. Nadia felt like growling at her, but just couldn't find the strength to do so.

"Alright then", she muttered. The girl smiled even wider as they walked outside and Nadia locked the door.

"Great!" she said and whirled in front of the older girl on the road. "I'm Alice, by the way. What's your name?"

"Nadia", Nadia answered shortly, putting her hands in her pockets. Alice continued to whirl in front of her until they reached the bigger house. Esme was waiting for them inside of the door.

"I'm sorry if you didn't want to come here, Alice really wanted you to, and it's quite hard to stop her", she excused. Nadia shuddered.

"It doesn't matter", she said in a low voice. Esme smiled her comforting smile and led her into the large living-room. There the rest of the family was waiting for her. All of them, Tanya noticed, look indescribably beautiful.

"These are my adopted children", Esme said. "Edward and Bella, and Alice and Jasper."

Nadia tried to smile at the four teenagers, but she doubted that it turned into anything but a grimace. Esme turned her around slightly so that she could face the man in the chair. He had honey-blond hair and was tall and muscular. He smiled gently at her, his deep golden eyes shimmering in the light from the lamps. No way, Nadia thought as she stared at him.

"This is my husband, Carlisle", Esme said. She'd hardly finished the sentence before Nadia fell to the floor.

Carlisle rose quickly and caught her right before her head hit the ground.

"What happened?" Esme asked, terrified.

"I'm not sure", Carlisle said and started to check the vital signs on the unconscious girl.

"I think she recognized you", Edward said. "At least, the last thing she thought was 'no way'."

Carlisle didn't answer, he studied the face of the girl and nodded slowly.

"I'll take her upstairs and watch over her, I think that we need to talk", he said. The others nodded and watched as their leader gracefully swooped the unconscious girl into his arms and speeded up the stairs, into one of the rooms.